Sandy Stimpson: Let's go "multi-modal" with the I-10 bridge over Mobile River

Mobile mayoral candidates Sandy Stimpson and Sam Jones were asked to write 250-word essays about a Press-Register editorial urging the inclusion of biking/walking paths on the proposed I-10 bridge.

Mobile mayoral candidate Sandy Stimpson

I'm ready to lead the effort to see that the design of the proposed I-10 bridge includes more than just an elevated highway for cars. We're way past the point where we can spend a pile of money to solve just one problem at a time. Why not make the bridge a key component in our waterfront's revitalization and an inspiring contribution to healthy lifestyles?

As Mike Marshall pointed out in his May 30 Press-Register editorial, Charleston figured out the bang-for-the-buck formula with the Cooper River Bridge. So did Washington D.C. with the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. And over in Mississippi, Mayor Connie Moran of Ocean Springs led the fight to make the new, wider and higher bridge welcoming for walkers and bikers.

What does it take to get the engineers' attention and turn bridges-and-highways-as-usual into infrastructure with multiplier effects? "A little gumption," Marshall wrote.

I think that should be part of a mayor's job description. But passionate advocacy doesn't seem to be the style of our city's current CEO.

Let's stop hiding behind budget restraints. Getting infrastructure investment to work harder for more comprehensive goals is a money-saving strategy. And let's stop running from tussles with state and federal bureaucrats. Both the feds and ALDOT say they have mandates for "multimodal" approaches – which is to say, options beyond private automobiles like walking and biking and transit. Sometimes it takes a little gumption to remind them what they've promised.

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